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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Economics

Management Faculty Publications

Economics

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

How Applying Instrumental Stakeholder Theory Can Provide Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Thomas M. Jones, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Will Felps Jan 2018

How Applying Instrumental Stakeholder Theory Can Provide Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Thomas M. Jones, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Will Felps

Management Faculty Publications

Instrumental stakeholder theory considers the performance consequences for firms of highly ethical relationships with stakeholders, characterized by high levels of trust, cooperation, and information sharing. While research suggests performance benefits, an obvious question remains: If instrumental stakeholder theory–based stakeholder treatment is so valuable, why isn’t it the dominant mode of relating to stakeholders? We argue that the existing instrumental stakeholder theory literature has three shortcomings that limit its ability to explain variance in performance. (1) Little theory exists around how instrumental stakeholder theory–based stakeholder management could provide sustainable competitive advantage. (2) The literature has largely neglected the potential downsides (i.e., …


Agglomeration Effects And Strategic Orientations: Evidence From The U.S. Lodging Industry, Linda Canina, Cathy A. Enz, Jeffrey S. Harrison Jan 2005

Agglomeration Effects And Strategic Orientations: Evidence From The U.S. Lodging Industry, Linda Canina, Cathy A. Enz, Jeffrey S. Harrison

Management Faculty Publications

This study provides evidence regarding the strategic dynamics of competitive clusters. Firms that agglomerate (co-locate) may benefit from the differentiation of competitors without making similar differentiating investments themselves. Alternatively, co-locating with a high percentage of firms with low-cost strategic orientations reduces performance for firms pursuing high levels of differentiation. Further, the lowest-cost providers with the greatest strategic distance from the norm of the competitive cluster reap the greatest benefit from co-location with differentiated firms. We find empirical support for these ideas using a sample of 14,995 U.S. lodging establishments, and controlling for a number of key demand-shaping factors.